A Filoli Tree Project Update

A number of members of the Kusamura Bonsai Club of Palo Alto volunteer at Filoli Estate and Gardens, located in Woodside, California. Some members have been volunteers at the estate in numerous capacities for many years and therefore the club has a long standing connection with Filoli.

Within the gardens, Filoli has a small collection of bonsai that were donated to the estate by several benefactors. In the fall of 2009, members of Kusamura formed a bonsai volunteer group to work on improving the health and appearance of these trees along with promoting the art of bonsai. Current volunteers are Jerry Carpenter, Rita Curbow, James Thompson, Janet Refvem, and Helen Reist. Currently they have spent over 300 hours working on the bonsai and they have just relocated some of the trees back to a public viewing area on the dining room terrace at the estate.

Shown below are some of the collection that are now on display as well as some trees that are still in the process of being refined.